Recent incidents involving the delayed response times from campus police to calls regarding student safety has left students questioning the effectiveness of the Cerritos College Campus Police Department.

When a worried student called campus police about a suspicious looking man, officers didn’t show up until 10 to 15 minutes later and after another call. 

In another incident, a student called to report a person following her around the library. Thirty minutes later, officers arrived to investigate.

Destinie Zepeda, liberal arts major said, “It is good to have campus police (officers), but I never see them doing their job.”

It is uncertain how seriously those employed by campus police take their jobs. Several officers are seen on their cell phones, texting, relaxing and flirting with other students. There is nothing professional about that.

One could deduce from the response times of those two calls that the safety of students on campus isn’t at the top of their priority list.

Just imagine what would happen if a student called in about a man with a gun on campus. Would you be able to trust the campus police to get there in a hurried fashion and take care of the matter properly?

In the incident about the suspicious man, police recovered a knife with approximately a 3-inch blade. When the officer removed the knife from the pocket of the suspect, blood covered his ungloved hand.

Not only does this show carelessness on behalf of the police officer, but it shows sheer unprofessionalism and lack of respect for standard procedure.

Campus police shouldn’t be asking for more money when what they are doing is unprofessional, inadequate work. The department needs to focus its attention on properly training its members, not asking for more money for patrol when they don’t do that properly now.